THE BIBLICAL CONTEXT OF SELF-REJECTION MOTIF IN THE PLOT OF IVAN TURGENEV’S “A STRANGE STORY”
The article studies the functional role of biblical reminiscence in Ivan S. Turgenev’s short novel “A Strange Story” (1870). A pretextual function of the Bible and interpretations of certain biblical theses, sayings and maxims are revealed through the artistic analysis of moral choice o...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Russian |
| Published: |
Petrozavodsk State University
2016-03-01
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| Series: | Проблемы исторической поэтики |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://poetica.pro/files/redaktor_pdf/1456393579.pdf |
| Summary: | The article studies the functional role of biblical reminiscence
in Ivan S. Turgenev’s short novel “A Strange Story” (1870). A pretextual
function of the Bible and interpretations of certain biblical theses, sayings
and maxims are revealed through the artistic analysis of moral choice
of Sophie and the embodiment of the existential motif. In the ethics of selfexpression
the main character of the short novel relies on the Old Testament
dogmas and evangelical preaching as well as asserts her own understanding
of the necessity of self-renunciation in the name of implementation
of the moral ideal. Sophie’s moral views despite being formed under the infl uence of religious ethics are not limited by the very ethics. Her faith in Christ is accompanied with the consciousness of her duty to people. The biblical ethics of self-dedication is based on antinomy of self-obsession and
renunciation of one’s own self. The personal is sacrifi ced for the sake
of the public. This unites Sophie with the selfl ess girls, participants of the
populist movement, and describes the world perception of a new person
of the watershed times in the “national history”. |
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| ISSN: | 1026-9479 1026-9479 |